# 5

I thought this last reading assignment was very insightful and interesting. In The Ethics of Reverence for Life, I agreed with a lot of what Schweitzer states. I believe that the world around us is a sacred gift and something that should be taken care of. I agree with Kohak as he discusses the view point of it being wrong to consider the world something that exists only for human pleasure. He carries this point further by explaining that God's intention of creating the earth, and everything in it, is for its own intrinsic good. I agree with this that everything in itself is good, and deserves respect for its life. The view that we currently have today about nature being ours to use, is the cause for the earth's diminishing resources and extinction of certain animal species. He discusses that difference between good and evil within nature, and how ther is a primordial desire to preserve life, not end it as many intend to do. When Kohak presents the parable about the boy and the starfish, it made me realize once again how much of a difference just one effort makes. All it takes is one to start to protect life, and after that many follow. The idea that our responsibility as humans on this earth is to do what we can to preserve life, without destroying it, is something that we all need to think about.

Kohak describes another view point of anthropocentrism versus biocentism. I was able to agree with this idea and what values it upholds. It is about being life-centered instead of human-centered. Our own selfishness and desire gets in the way of this, and I think people will often kill or harm needlessly just to fufill their own wants than to think about what another being may want. However, he states how we need to take it in perspective about what is the good for that being, not just what we think is the good. Many people today may believe what they are doing is helping nature or an animal, when in reality it is harming it. The second value he talks about is the intrinsic value, where every living this has value in itself. If only we would realize this concept, there would never be desire to harm.

When the truths of boicentrism are discussed, I agreed with all but the first. I understand that animals or plants equally have a right to live on this earth as humans, but I still believe that humans posses a superiority by their very nature. I agree that every consequence we make affects everything and everyone around us, whether we conscoiusly know or accept that fact. The denial of this, in my opinion, causes many of our problems today.
In The Land Ethic, I was able to relate to what Kohak discussed in this section as well. I think it is correct when Leopold states that we need to strive for the harmony of all life. He states that only through this harmony can all life survive together. If harmony was something that we could all strive for, it may lead to better care for the world we live in.